In Vermont, both lawyers running for Attorney General in the
Democratic primary August 28 have accepted campaign donations from people who
are or have been their adversaries in court. Both say the contributions are too small to influence
them. The Vermont Bar Association
has no policy that covers such apparent conflicts of interest.

The primary race for Attorney General is the only contested
race for a major office in the state and, in recent years, the Democratic
nominee has gone on to be elected in the general election with as much as 83%
of the vote. In 2010, incumbent
Bill Sorrell won his seventh two-year term with 61.9% of almost 231,000 votes
(Vermont has about 450,000 registered voters).

This is the first time Bill Sorrell, 65, has had serious
opposition since he first ran for Attorney General in 1998. He has held the office since 1997, when
he was appointed by then Governor Howard Dean. Sorrell was then Dean's Secretary of Administration,
having previously served twice as Chittenden County State's Attorney (the
county prosecutor) in Vermont's largest county. http://billsorrell.com/ ;

His challenger this year is the current Chittenden County
prosecutor, T. J. Donovan, 38, who first won that position in 2006. In 2010, running as both a Democrat and
a Republican, Donovan won reelection with 16,764 votes -- more than 14,000 ahead
of his only competitor. http://donovan2012.com/ ;

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During a recent debate, Donovan cited prescription drug
abuse as the most important issue in the campaign, a position he has taken
consistently. Like Democratic
Governor Peter Shumlin, Donovan characterizes the problem as an
"epidemic." He has also called for a uniform,
statewide policy for use of tasers, in response to the state police taser
fatality last June. Donovan also
wants to establish a special elder abuse unit in the attorney general's
office.

At the same debate, in response to the same question about
the most important issue, Sorrell responded initially, "It depends." He later cited scams against the
elderly, child pornography, sex abuse, and drug abuse, among other issues.

Both candidates oppose the death penalty, which Vermont does
not have. Both support physician
assisted-assisted suicide, which Vermont does not have. Both also support current gun laws and
support the decriminalization of marijuana. Neither candidate took a position on police violence, an
issue raised by Burlington police using pepper spray and pellets on non-violent
protestors during the governors' conference on July 29. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Vermont-Dems-spar-in-attorney-general-primary-race-3754373.php

In July, the two campaigns had a brief flare-up over an
allegation that Donovan was using a "push poll," which Vermont tradition frowns
upon. The issue died down when the
poll turned out not to be a push poll, but had inartful questions that had
drawn objection from a retired psychologist whose son works in Sorrell's
office.

The classic push poll is designed to spread negative
information, often false, about the opposition. One of the more effective push polls was used by George W.
Bush in the South Carolina primary in 2000, when callers were asked how they'd
feel about John McCain if they knew he'd fathered an illegitimate black
child.

Donovan has had other bumps so far. He wrongly inflated the number of
opiate-addicted babies born in Rutland County and later corrected his mistake,
which was the result of trusting a false report on WCAX TV in Burlington. Donovan has also apologized for
his campaign sending an absentee ballot to a voter who had not requested, a
practice contrary to statute.

Sorrell's official action on out of state PACs has raised
eyebrows, now that he's benefitting directly from official state policy. In late July, reacting to a federal
court decision in June that overturned the state law limit on PAC spending,
Sorrell announced in an advisory opinion that his office would not prosecute
violations of Vermont's $2,000 limit on independent PAC expenditures.

Two weeks later, Sorrell began benefitting from the $99,000
ad buy for the Dean TV commercial that's not-a-campaign-ad spot that
unequivocally supports Sorrell and was paid for by the Democratic Attorney
Generals Association, that avowedly supports incumbents.

Donovan called a news conference August 10 to complain about
Sorrell's ad violating what he thought had been their agreement about the
nature of their campaign.
Donovan argued that: "By his own quote he's concerned about the
corrosive nature of money in politics as a result of super PACs. He should
demand it be taken down. This group is associated with the Democratic Attorneys
General Association which he is a member of." Donovan added that, "$99,000 from a Washington, D.C.
organization is more than Attorney General Sorrell has raised from
Vermonters."

Sorrell responded that he hadn't seen the ad, but understood
that his friend Dean had just said positive things about him, not negative
things about Donovan. Sorrell
alkso suggested that Donovan might not be fully conversant with Vermont
election spending laws.

Sorrell has also raised at least $5,825 from employees in the Attorney General's office, but
Donovan has not made this an issue.

When Donovan announced his candidacy in May, Sorrell was
thought perhaps to be vulnerable, in part because of U.S. Supreme Court rulings
in recent years that went against Vermont's statutes controlling medical
information and political campaign contributions. At that time, the Vermont State Democratic Committee
endorsed Donovan. In late July,
the same 28-member committee came up three votes short of endorsing Sorrell. http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/236817-report-vt.-ag-doesnt-get-state-democrats-endorsement

Sorrell's Democratic support has eroded in part because of the
state's so far ineffective efforts to shut down Vermont Yankee or even hold it
to prior commitments. More
serious, apparently, was the Sorrell campaign's decision to send out mailers
printed at a non-union shop. Labor
endorsements have been going to Donovan. http://www.greenmountaindaily.com/tag/Attorney%20General

Besides the Democratic Attorneys General Association, which
has also given $6,000 directly to his campaign, Sorrell has the support of
establishment Democrats suah as former governors Howard Dean and Madeleine
Kunin. each of whom appointed Sorrell to prosecutorial offices.

Kunin has signed a fundraising letter for Sorrell, noting
that she knew and was inspired by his mother when they were both in the
legislature. She also notes that
she appointed Sorrell "to his second term as Chittenden County State's
Attorney."

Dean has been campaigning with Sorrell and published an op
ed piece supporting him in the Bennington Banner. Dean also
voices the $99,000 not-a-campaign-ad ad currently set to run 212 times before
the primary.

Dean has said about Donovan, "T.J.'s really running for
something else," which is not unusual for Chittenden County prosecutors.

Sorrell and Donovan were both born in Burlington, which is
the epicenter of Vermont Democratic politics. The Chittenden County prosecutor's office has long
been a stepping-stone to higher office, most notably for U.S. Senator Patrick
Leahy, 72, who was elected to the office in 1966 and 1970. In 1974, at 34, Leahy became the
youngest Vermonter ever elected to the U.S. Senate, where's he's been ever
since. He is also the only
Democrat elected to the Senate by Vermont, which has also elected independent,
self-identified socialist Bernie Sanders.

Both Democratic candidates for Attorney General have signed
a pledge to wage positive campaigns.

The Republican candidate for Attorney General is Jack
McMullen, also from Burlington, who is unopposed in the primary. Although not a practicing lawyer, McMullen has a law degree
from Harvard Law and an MBA from Harvard Business School. His previous political experience
comprises two races for the U.S. Senate, losing the Republican primary to Fred
Tuttle in 1998 and losing the general election to Patrick Leahy in 2004.

Vermonter living in Woodstock:
elected to five terms (served 20 years) as side judge (sitting in Superior, Family, and Small Claims Courts);
public radio producer, "The Panther Program" -- nationally distributed, three albums (at CD Baby), some (more...)